Auctioneers used to quote that online auctions were a major threat to the auction industry but they're now saying it has contributed to a huge boom. This is due to rivals forming partnerships that produce bigger audiences for their sellers, often by simulcasting live auctions onto the web.

Buyers are also moving away from auction sites such as eBay, where they've had little luck, to live auctions that also give the thrill of competing in person. These Internet savvy users that are transitioning from eBay are not appearing to the auctions in person but rather by sites that broadcast live auctions.

the Internet is the greatest thing ever to happen to the live-auction industry because it made the industry reinvent itself. Tommy Williams - National Auctioneers Association

Sales of goods and services at live auctions totaled $257 billion in 2006, a surge of 7% over 2005.